Reviews roundup – Tamsin Quin ~ Anchor Lane ~ Blues Meets Girl ~ Dream Company ~ Disen Gage ~ Blackhalls
TAMSIN QUIN
Gypsy Blood
independent
I’m a sucker for a girl with a guitar, me. Always have been. It’s a bonus if they can actually play it, never mind sing and write some delightful songs.
So say hello to Tamsin Quin from away doon there Stonehengewards. There’s nothing big or fancy going on here. What you’re getting are acoustic, folky songs beautifully performed and sung. I mean what more do you want? Really. I’m a wee bit behind the times here as this actually came out last year but that’s the problem when there is so much music out there. It’s easy to miss out on delights like this. I’m glad I finally got there as her way with music is a real treat.
There are some clever arrangements masquerading as simplicity and it’s one of those records that really benefits from headphones so you can pick out some lovely subdued cello work. A lot of the songs have poetic qualities with the likes of ‘We Are Home’ and ‘Jennifer’ constantly dragging you back for a repeat listen. As for ‘Seventeen’, well that would have been one of my songs of 2018. Or any year. A gem of a record. Now get yourself North of the wall for a show or two.
https://tamsinquin.bandcamp.com
ANCHOR LANE
Fame Shame
R7 Records
Gaaar! Have you any idea how many times I’ve typed the name Ashton Lane instead of Anchor Lane. Two bands fae Glesgae. Too similar names.
But there the similarites end. For whereas the former are a countryish roots band this lot like to rawk. Which is a good thing. This single is a taster for their forthcoming “Casino” album and it does what every single should. Whet your appetite.
The band sound fiery with a punky edge and it has a superb production courtesy of Toby Jepson (Wayward Sons, Gun, Little Angels). They’ve toured with Cheap Trick, Eagles of Death Metal and Tremonti and the album sees a writing collaboration with Ricky Warwick (The Almighty / Black Star Riders). Give this a go and prepare yourself for the album.
BLUES MEETS GIRL featuring Sean Carney
Blues Meets Girl
independent
Well this is good. Old fashioned blues with a back beat. I’ll have me some of that.
Blues Meets Girls is London born bluesman Mr Downchild and Texas blueswoman Kasimira. Award winning guitarist Sean Carney gets a “featured” and provides some fine picking as well as one tune.
Granted, I’m not a fan of having more than one vocalist on a record as it makes it seem more like a compilation and my own preferences mean that I favour the tunes when Mr Downchild chows doon on his moothie and drawls his way through the likes of ‘Backstabber’. But Ms Kasimira has a fine albeit smoother voice and is well worth her turn here.
When they do duet it’s really good and as a fan of entendres, double or otherwise, there is plenty here to keep me entertained. Check out ‘I’m Your Handy Man’ for the finest example of that particular art form. The whole band knows how to swing and groove, there are plenty of interesting arrangements and this was a rerr wee treat from start to finish.
https://www.facebook.com/BluesMeetsGirl
DREAM COMPANY
The Wildest Season
Tanzan
We’re off to Italy now for some eighties influenced melodic rock meets AOR.
Not such a surprise when you realise that up until now Dream Company had spent over a dozen years as a Bon Jovi tribute band. So do their original songs sound like Bon Jovi? Ish.
Thing is, JBJ and whoever is in the band these days, may have ended up turgid and dull but I’m old enough to see them live in the eighties when Lee Aaron (sigh) was supporting them. They were fresh and exciting, something I tend to forget. So if Dream Company are mining their early days for a few lost nuggets, fair play to them.
And this is a good album. Shame it opens with one of their lesser songs but once the insanely melodic ‘Mine, Mine, Mine’ kicks in and Giulio Garghentini hits some high notes, well it’s time for me to forget the passage of time and the whitening of hair and just have a damn good time. They can rock and shred with the best of them, they’ve got the legally obligatory big ballad in the shape of ‘Land of Freedom’ and a host of choruses that will be rattling about your head for days to come.
Fans of classic AOR should really give this a chance. It’s a good one.
https://www.dreamcompanyofficial.com/
DISEN GAGE
The Screw-Loose Entertainment
Addicted
Back in time for our latest installment of Russian prog / psych / weird as this first saw the light of day 15 years back.
Which means it’s my third encounter with Disen Gage this year. Last time around they really did live up to the screw loose nomenclature on “Nature”. But this oldie (and their debut) highlights why they’re named after a Robert Fripp song.
Because they may have nothing in common with King Crimson these days but they lay their influences on the table with this one. For sure, even back then they had their own of doing things but on tunes like ‘Solaris’ and ‘Arabia’ you can see where they were coming from. It’s also odd to hear them dealing in a short format with each song bar the opener of seven inch single length.
But it’s still an adventurous set as they sometimes shoot off into the world of fusion and avant-garde before droning back into a space age inferno. Fans of way over there instrumental prog should be investigating this immediately. I’ve had a lot of splendid music making it’s way over from Russia this year and this is another one to add to that list.
https://noname666.bandcamp.com
BLACKHALLS
Wild Rocket
independent
We’re going to Brazil now for some more traditional hard rock.
That would be Blackhalls with a record they recorded three years back but which is only being released now. They’ve actually been on the go since 2005 and list the likes of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and UFO among their influences. You can hear it. And they got five bonus points for calling a song ‘The Boys Are Back In Chinatown’! Yes, really. And it sounds exactly like you would expect it to sound.
The guitars are chunky and when the twin guitars start duelling the Lizzy influences really shine through. Vocalist Nelson Castello has a rough, gritty voice which adds a degree of metallic edge to the songs. More Di’Anno than Dickinson and on some of the harder songs I kept hearing early Tygers of Pan Tang. Which is a good thing. The big ballad, ‘Burial Future’ is a miss for me but once they start grinding the blues through a mincer on ‘Drunkards Blues’ all is forgiven. It’s not a world beater but it has a charm missing from so many major releases.
https://www.facebook.com/Blackhallsband/
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